Boy, 10, Escapes as Mother Drives Her Family Into Hudson

Story here. Excerpt:

'A 10-year-old boy escaped and swam ashore after his mother deliberately drove their minivan off a boat ramp and into the Hudson River in Newburgh, N.Y., on Tuesday night, the police said. The mother and three younger children who were trapped in the minivan died.

The police said the driver’s-side window was down when the doomed minivan was towed from the water, suggesting that the boy, identified as La’Shaun Armstrong, had crawled past his mother as he scrambled to get out.

Michael Ferrara, the Newburgh police chief, identified the mother as LaShanda Armstrong, 25. Inside, along with Ms. Armstrong, were her three young children, identified by the police as Landen Pierre, 5; Lance Pierre, 2; and Lainaina Pierre, 11 months old. All had died, Chief Ferrara said.

He said the 10-year-old had been in the minivan when Ms. Armstrong steered the car off the boat ramp and into the river a few blocks from the row-house apartment where they lived. La’Shaun “managed to hit the power windows,” Chief Ferrara said, and “climbed out before the vehicle sank.”

Newburgh officials described a tragedy that unfolded rapidly around dinnertime on Tuesday night. Chief Ferrara said that a relative of Ms. Armstrong’s had called the police around 7:30 p.m., “saying they believed LaShanda Armstrong was involved in a domestic dispute” with the father of three of her four children. Chief Ferrara said the caller reported hearing “tussling in the background.”

He said officers were sent to her home, but it was too late: No one was there.'